Peranakan, and are terms used to describe the descendants of male Chinese immigrants to Southeast Asia - from Java, Indonesia, to Phuket, Thailand - who arrived between the 16th and 19th centuries, married local women and started new lives, spawning a unique hybrid culture.
The word " " is derived from Hindi (it's an honorific to address a respected elder) and came to refer to ethnic Chinese and mixed-race men born in these communities. Women of this provenance were dubbed "nyonya", a Malay word (derived from the Portuguese for "grandmother") and originally used for non-Malay women of high social standing.
The Peranakan community here is dubbed "Phuket Baba" - and now their enduring roots in Phuket island's only city (as Phuket Town is, in size and official designation) will be honoured with a museum.
The Old Town is the heart of the city's Phuket Baba community, as evidenced by its well-restored shophouse architecture. Enriched by tin, the local Peranakan community became one of the wealthiest in Southeast Asia, and most of the elegant Sino-colonial buildings in the Old Town were the original homes of well-to-do Peranakan families. The Old Town is now an attractive tourism draw and an elegant 103-year-old, two-storey structure - originally the Standard Chartered Bank, and once used as a police station - located at a key intersection in the district will house the museum. Unused for years, the structure was taken over by the Phuket City Municipality, which authorised its use as a museum in 2010.
The 50 million baht (HK$12 million) undertaking is being overseen by the Thai Peranakan Association. On display will be artefacts, apparel, furniture, art and traditional Phuket Baba garments. The museum will also be a repository for Phuket Baba historical records.
